NEW YORK – It is cliché, of course, to refer to a day at a baseball stadium as “unforgettable.” But how else to describe the events of Aug. 18 at Fenway Park? It was the highlight of Alex Rodriguez’s dramatic return to Major League Baseball, complete with subplots involving his general manager, his manager, his teammates and one opponent who elected to go rogue.

The afternoon began with Brian Cashman. He admitted he did not feel comfortable saying much more than “hello” and “goodbye” to Rodriguez, his highest-paid player, as he feuded with the organization. “We’ve never had anything like this,” he said. “We’ve never had anything like this. This is my 16th year. I’ve never seen anything like this.”

That was just the warmup. When the game began, Red Sox starter Ryan Dempster plunked Rodriguez. The benches cleared. Brett Gardner had to be restrained. Joe Girardi screamed at Dempster, and got himself ejected.

A few innings later, Rodriguez clouted a solo home run that keyed a Yankees comeback. They won, 9-6, beginning a winning stretch that has them 2.5 games out of the second Wild Card spot with 23 to play. David Ortiz would later say that Dempster “woke up a monster.”